You are the Message
Every day and every moment the evidence is piling up. No matter what you say in given moments, no matter what you send out or post in the break room, how you have behaved on a day-in-day-out moment-by-moment basis with your team is right there to confirm or deny the validity of what comes out of your mouth, pen, & keyboard.
This Leadership Guideline is one that takes a lot of patience and a lot of self-awareness. If you are not prepared to be honest with yourself, then don't even try. With every e-mail or text message you send, the story of who you are and how you lead is being told. The inspiring thing about that is that everything you do or don't do makes an impact - no matter how big or small. The terrifying thing about that is that everything you do or don't do makes an impact - no matter how big or small.
The first step in all of this is clearly defining who you want to be as a leader. You have to do the work and put some things on paper for your own personal guidelines.
If you haven't begun that work, some questions for you to honestly answer are below. Don't just answer them in your head and forget what they are by lunchtime. Write them down. Send yourself an e-mail with your answers. Keep the reminders of who you want to be as a Leader present and tell the story in all that you do going forward.
What is something that a great leader consistently does?
What is something that a great leader never does?
A year from now, what are three words that you would want your team to use to describe who you are to them as their leader?
Need some help getting there and crafting some specific guidelines of your own? Just reach out and ask!